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Custom Fundraising Solutions is on Instagram! Follow us @customfundraisingsolutions and use our corresponding hashtags to join the conversation. Even if you’re not on Instagram, chances are most of your friends are, and you should be too! Post and tag photos of your own fundraisers with the hashtags #mattressfundraiser and #customfundraisingsolutions and encourage volunteers and customers to do the same! You can also use the direct message function to send us your photos and we’ll re-post them! Get involved on Instagram and maximize your exposure and funds raised!

Tips for a Successful School Fundraiser

Maybe you and your team or group is skeptical about fundraising. Well, after almost a decade of experience and over $10 million dollars given back to school and groups across the country, Custom Fundraising Solutions is confident that fundraisers…more specifically, mattresses fundraisers are the best option.

Hoover High School Football $13,150!

As our founder Joe Matejka mentions in this video, mattress fundraisers may seem a bit far-fetched but they absolutely work. If you’re looking to fundraise this school year, here are some must-know tips compiled by our own Missy Yelton of CFS Twin Cities:

• ·         Always be open to new fundraiser ideas, especially those that would require less work for more return.
• ·         Less is more - rather than having 10+ small fundraisers per year, focus the effort on having 1-3 big ones that bring in a lot of money in just one day.  Asking parents and students to participate in a dozen or so fundraisers per year leads to burnout, and lowered participation rate, thus lowering the money raised.
• ·         Work to get EVERY member/student involved in fundraising somehow - if you are a Coach/Music Director/Program Leader, be excited about fundraising, even if you have boosters.  Everyone else will follow your lead.
• ·         If there is a Booster group, or core volunteer group, don't let different political agendas sidetrack the success of your fundraisers.  Work so that everyone supports the avenues you choose to raise funds, because working together means success.  DO look to fill positions with those who are more collaborative, open to new ideas and truly care about the overall mission of your organization.

Roseville Area Music Program made $10,000!

Most importantly, have FUN with FUNdraising! 

Northwest Guilford High School's Recipe for Success

When Director Brian McMath scheduled the first ever Mattress Fundraiser for the Northwest Guilford High School Band, he challenged his parents and students to beat out all other top earning programs. Custom Fundraising Solutions of Charlotte reported a total of 81 beds sold for a payback to the music program of what will be nearly $11,000 dollars!

What made this fundraiser so successful for Northwest Guilford, especially since this was their first ever Mattress Fundraiser sale?  “It comes down to two things: focus and drive. When the entire program is focused on getting the word out, which is the most important factor for a successful sale, they will undoubtedly get the results they are looking for,” said Mark Irvin of CFS Charlotte.

The program had set the bar high.  “Like a lot of things in life, you just need a goal,” commented Irvin. The determination of the director and kids in the program, as well as the overwhelming support of the community combined to make a winning recipe.

Great Interview with Topeka West High School for a Mattress Fundraiser!

Who Wants A Piece of the CFS Pie?

Who wouldn't like a piece of a $160,000 pie? Custom Fundraising Solutions set a new national record this past weekend for “amount of dollars given back” in only one weekend of Mattress Fundraisers! Yes, ONE weekend! That would mean over $8.3 million dollars given back over the course of a year if we continue momentum like that.  Here are some of the top programs last week:

• (Milwaukee) Sun Prairie HS Baseball Team, made $8,375
• (Minneapolis) South St. Paul HS Band made $6,100
• (Evansville) Vincennes Lincoln HS Band made $7,250

Some key factors to having a successful event include:

• Student/Coach/Director enthusiasm!
• Every member doing exactly what they’re asked!
• Spreading the word using social media and email!
• Knowing the event is going to be a success!
• Having FUN!

If you have a success story you’d like to share or if you know a school group in need of raising thousands of dollars in just one day, we want to hear from you! Send us an EMAIL!

Be sure to connect with us on Facebook: @CFSCorporate and Twitter: @Cfsmattress.

Rolling Out the Red Carpet for Grammy Nominee Jared Cassedy

This is the second year the prestigious, Music Educator of the Year Grammy will be given at the 57th annual awards ceremony, February 8th in Los Angeles. The award was established to recognize current music educators who have made a significant, lasting contribution to music education. This year 7,000 nominees were submitted for review spanning elementary school teachers to college professors.  Jared Cassedy, Fine Arts Director for the Windham School District is one of only ten to make the pool of finalists.

Portland, Maine dealer, Michael Logue has had the pleasure of working with this much-respected and well-liked director for three years, raising nearly $11,000 for Cassedy's program with the Mattress Fundraiser.  The Windham High School Band (https://www.facebook.com/WindhamHighSchoolBand) is very proud of this prestigious honor, announcing, “…no matter what happens, you've already won in Windham.”

Winner of the award will not only take home a five-pound, four-ounce knick knack for their desk, they will also pick up a $10,000 honorarium. And even the finalists are winners, each receiving a $1,000 honorarium, as well. “I am very proud to be able to work with such a talented group and an exceptional director,” says Logue. 

You don’t have to win a Grammy to be recognized as an individual making a difference in the lives of our youth. Send us your story so we can cast a spotlight where it is deserved! Send it to melissa@customfundraisingsolutions.com. 

On behalf of the entire Custom Fundraising Solutions team, congratulations Jared Cassedy on this very fine accomplishment!

UPDATE: And...he won! 

Big City Recognition Doesn't Mean Big Business - CFS is Homegrown

Everyone over the age of 30 remembers the ever-popular ad campaign for Pace Picante Sauce, (which first debuted back in 1989) when a group of horrified cowboys shouted, “New York City?!?” after reading the manufacturer’s label on a jar of salsa. 

Salsa made in the Big Apple just seemed wrong.   The city is about big business, and Times Square is its billboard. If there is an important message to be shared, you’ll see it there!  Recently, even CFS was making news on the Reuter’s billboard!  “’The Mattress Fundraiser’ Breaks $10 Million for Custom Fundraising Solutions” was the headline, announcing that we’ve given back $10 million dollars to school groups across the country.  Sounds like big business, doesn’t it? Not really.

CFS has over 50 locations nationwide, and the goal is to grow to over 100 locations, each giving back $100,000 annually. This is a big goal, but Custom Fundraising Solutions isn’t necessarily “big business.” Each location is independently owned and operated by small business owners, living in the very communities where they’re helping kids raise money for school organizations. These are the same people who shop at your neighborhood grocery store, sit next to you at the Friday night football games and send their kids to local schools, toting trombones and soccer balls.  However, by being a part of the CFS brand, each location benefits from the company’s buying power and nearly 10 years of product and fundraising expertise.

Another benefit of looking at the locations as a group is that you can gauge the success of the CFS “The Mattress Fundraiser” model.  We are proud to announce the CFS locations have given back over $3 million dollars so far this year!  And of the 50+ locations, 9 of them have exceeded their goal of giving back $100,000 each. Wow!

So what happened to the small, Texas-based Pace Foods Company? The very company that boasted an authentic Tex-Mex sauce recipe sold out to Campbell’s Soup Company in 1995, which is less than a 100 miles outside of “New York City.”  They eventually succumbed to “big business.”  CFS is committed to giving back big dollars, not “big business.” Now that’s “Awesome Sauce!” (This phrase is recognized by anyone UNDER 30…or closer to 13.)